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I've set up this blog so that all my friends, relations and colleagues in the world of writing can keep up to speed with what I'm doing - from now on, I'll never have to say sorry for not keeping in touch.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Personally, I find
many different places, people and objects inspiring. But in the case of my new
novel Magic Sometimes Happens the
inspiration was definitely a time of year and a place – Minnesota, one of the states in the American
Midwest – in the fall.

I’ve been in Minnesota at that time of year, when the leaves are
turning the most amazing shades of gold and crimson, when the sky is a deep,
wonderfully rich cerulean and its reflections make the Mississippi River the same astonishing shade of blue, when the chill of the coming winter is already in the early
morning mist, but in an as-yet-unthreatening sort of way. Here are some photographs I took on a recent visit. The first is of the Minneapolis skyline looking from Saint Paul (these two conurbations make up the Twin Cites of Minnesota) across the Mississippi River. The second is of the river itself, edged with sumach which - as you can see - is going a gorgeous shade of scarlet. The third is a statue of Hiawatha and his bride Minnehaha which is in Minnehaha Park. You can't move in the Twin Cities without seeing a Hiawatha something or a Minnehaha something else, all commemorating Longfellow's narrative poem.

I wanted to take
my heroine to the same place at the same time because when the novel opens she
is desperately sad and in need of healing.
I thought Minnesota would be just the place where magic might happen for Rosie.

What’s the novel
about?

Here’s the blurb.

London-based PR and promotions consultant
Rosie Denham has just spent a year in Paris
where she’s tried but failed to fall in love. She’s also made a big mistake and
can’t forgive herself.

American IT professor Patrick Riley’s wife
has left him for a Mr Wonderful with a cute British accent and a house with a
real yard. So Patrick’s not exactly thrilled to meet another Brit who’s
visiting Minnesota,
even if she’s hot. Pat and Rosie couldn’t be more different. She’s had a
privileged English upbringing. He was raised in poverty in Missouri.
Pat has two kids, a job that means the world to him and a wife who might decide
she wants her husband back. So when Pat and Rosie fall in love, the prospects
don’t seem bright for them.

But magic sometimes happens – right?

The cover is the creation of the wonderful Berni Stevens, whose artwork complements my story perfectly because it's about all kinds of journeys.

The Kindle
version of Magic Sometimes Happens is
available for pre-order now and the print version will be coming along later in
the year, ready for Christmas. Click on the cover image to the right of this post to take you to the Amazon page.

Margaret James The Silver Locket

Margaret James Elegy for a Queen Kindle Edition

About Me

I'm a novelist, journalist and teacher of creative writing for the London School of Journalism. I've written fifteen published novels and lots of short stories, one of which was published in the RNA's Golden Anniversary anthology, Loves Me, Loves Me Not - am very proud of that!